New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced today that Governor Phil Murphy has appointed retired New Jersey State Police Major Eric Heitmann as the Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, the state agency charged with promoting statewide traffic safety programs through education, engineering, and enforcement activities.
Officials say Heitmann is a 25-year veteran of the New Jersey State Police whose service included leading the Division’s elite Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and overseeing all policing services on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway as Commander of Troop D Road Stations.
“Eric is a nationally recognized and well-respected expert in the field of traffic safety and accident investigation,” said Attorney General Grewal. “His vast training and experience, coupled with his extensive first-hand knowledge of New Jersey roadways, make him an invaluable asset to the Division of Highway Traffic Safety.”
During his time with State Police, Heitmann was instrumental in many traffic safety and investigative initiatives in the state.
According to authorities, Heitmann collaborated with the New Jersey County Prosecutors Association and the Office of the NJ Attorney General to form the New Jersey Prosecutors Crash Investigators Association as well as to develop a “Joint Crash Investigative Protocol” that established a single investigative procedure for serious and fatal crashes in the state. Heitmann was instrumental in the development of the State’s first electronic crash report and first electronic data transfer of crash records between the New Jersey State Police, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and the National Highway Transportation Administration.
The Warren County native, who lives in Monmouth County with his wife and children, assumed leadership of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety earlier this month.
“It is an honor to be in this position, and once again be able to work closely with all of our traffic safety partners,” Heitmann said. “We see this as a perfect time for New Jersey to emerge as a leader in traffic safety programs and crash prevention.”